More than 50 Jewish lawmakers from 22 countries discussed the political challenges of supporting Israel during a visit to Jerusalem. The lawmakers were in Israel this week for a Consultation of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, organized by the World Jewish Congress.
Hundreds of participants in the flotilla to the Gaza Strip have been forced to cool their heels at ports around Greece and in other countries, in a war of attrition of sorts that is playing itself out on several fronts.
The U.S. State Department is funding a $500,000 study to examine incitement in Israeli and Palestinian textbooks. The study is analyzing textbooks used by Israeli and Palestinian schoolchildren to see how they characterize the other side and topics like religion and history, the Forward reported. It was commissioned by the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, a Jerusalem-based organization of Islamic, Jewish and Christian religious leaders.
The fifth anniversary of Gilad Shalit’s cruel imprisonment by Hamas, without the Red Cross being allowed to visit him, sparked growing public pressure in Israel on the government to agree to a painful prisoner swap. As I watched the protest, my mind wandered back almost four decades.
The U.S. Senate threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if it continues to seek a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. The resolution passed unanimously on Tuesday also reaffirmed U.S. opposition to any Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless the group renounces terrorism and is willing to make peace with Israel. The United States and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
J Street and Americans for Peace Now are expressing concerns about the possibility of violence between Israel and the latest Gaza flotilla.
Rabbi Basil Herring is leaving his position as head of the Rabbinical Council of America. Herring has served as executive vice president of the RCA, the umbrella organization for nearly 1,000 Orthodox rabbis in 14 countries, since 2003.
The treasurer of a Long Island congregation was arrested on suspicions that he stole more than $600,000 from the synagogue.
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